You Can Read

Easy reader picture book

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Justification: I selected this picture book for it's positive message about reading and how it can be fun! It's also a really funny read. This book takes reading out of the doldrums of classroom and into the world. It instills a spirit of adventure and imagination. This is an easily accessible text with large font and joyful accompanying illustrations.

Evaluation: I enjoyed the rhyming scheme of this picture book which makes it perfect and fun for a read-aloud. We see a boy and a girl on each spread reading in a variety of different places. The audience learns you can read in the desert, under the sea, in outer space or at the opera! There are some funny features involving "potty humor" children of all ages will enjoy. "You can read in the bathroom" with a child reading a big book on the toilet. "You can read walking down the street, though you might step in...EEEW!" will be sure to elicit giggles. My favorite part is: "You can read in your party clothes (Dress Up!) or in your underpants (Dress Down)!"

The illustrations establish a playful mood with the use of muted color and the shapes of the characters. The book features two protagonists, a boy and a girl, and shows all of their adventures in reading in different environments and scenarios. They have large heads and elongated, oblong bodies providing a cartoonish quality to the pictures. There is also great use of light and dark in the pages. A campfire at night sheds light on an otherwise pitch black two-page spread.

In spite of the oversized images and large text, there are some extra details within the bigger illustrations. The reader gets to see the title of each and every book the characters are reading! Even though this isn't a text-heavy book, it's a fun detail the reader can point out to the audience during a read-aloud. The reader gets to see the humorous titles of the books the kids are reading on each page while they read the story. (For example, the boy is reading Just Try a Bite while in the kitchen and the girl is reading Now Get Muddy while hanging upside down outside on a jungle gym in the mud.

Conclusion: You Can Read has a positive message for early readers, encouraging them to read on their own. A humor-filled celebration of literacy, the tone of the book is lighthearted and entertaining. The overall spirit of this book is that reading is great and can be done absolutely anywhere! These are fantastic messages for children of all ages.

Reference: Becker, H. & Hoffman, M. (2017) You Can Read, Victoria, British Columbia : Orca Book Publishers.